By the Frozen Pond
by MelonRinds
Summary: Carlos teaches Dorothy Ann how to skate.


**A oneshot based off a very small snippet of dialogue in Herman Hesse's, Beneath the Wheel. I thought the certain part was really cute and was just asking to be elaborated on. I posted the actual quote at the end of the fic in case anyone doesn't want to be spoiled.**

**By the way, I _think_ the kids in this story are probably between 10-12 years old. (could be a little older though... I left it a bit open...) Young, and very confused.**

**Pairings: Carlos/DA**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

It wasn't often Walkerville had a snowfall count higher than two feet. Even rarer was the fact that this year, most of the small local ponds had frozen over as well. Of course, few were ever actually skateable - thin ice, horribly uneven ice, and relatively small bodies of water were never suitable. That year, however, the large pond just offside the park had ice thick enough to support even the buffest of Mr. Sinew's muscles. To the bored children, teens, and preteens of Walkerville, the outdoor ice rink was a Godsend.

The town had organized a few events in the park that year to celebrate the seemingly endless snowfalls: toboggan races, snowball fights, snowman building contests, and hockey games on the rink, to name a few. But now, as the shortening days grew closer and closer to Christmas, activities in and around the park were slowing down. The baseball field , which had hosted the snowman building contest, had only a few piles of the crushed snow bodies left. The refreshment stand near the large hill used for the toboggan races had already been taken down and the ice sculptures had all been smashed up by vandals. The foods stand that had been set up at the beginning of the holiday season, however, continued to serve and feed the thinning crowd of rosy cheeked, red nosed skaters.

On this particular afternoon, just two days before Christmas, the rink was as quiet as ever. Only a few skaters, finished with their Christmas shopping, had chosen to take a much needed break around the welcoming pond.

More people than Wanda had promised, Dorothy Ann noted. Her eyes - the only part of her face not covered with a scarf or toque - moved over to the girl in question. Dorothy Ann narrowed them. She hated skating, and had only come because Wanda had dragged her over. Of course Wanda loved coming here. A day hadn't gone by since the first snowflake hit the ground that she hadn't come to practise her aim - for snowball fights, her reflexes - for fast sled manoeuvring, and her skating - so that she could beat any one of them in a low friction race.

Naturally, Ralphie was the only one willing to take up the challenge. The two of them were head to head at the moment, but, as always, one would eventually give a little push to the other to steer them off course. This time it was Wanda, and Ralphie promptly crashed into a large pile of snow at the edge of the bank. Wanda laughed and then skated over to help him dig his way out. Dorothy Ann couldn't help but grin as well.

Keesha was out on the ice as well, carefully avoiding skating close to Wanda or Ralphie for fear of injury. Though she couldn't move anywhere near as fast as they could on the ice, she was definitely more graceful. It must have been all those dance lessons she took. Keesha had traced a few figure eights on the ice already and was now trying to perfect a difficult looking jump. Dorothy Ann watched her enviously, wishing she could skate only half as well as her. Or even half as well as Phoebe, who was currently wobbling her way toward the edge of the pond.

At least she can stay upright, thought DA, watching her friend approach shakily. Dorothy Ann looked down at her own feet. She had already tied her skates on tight, but hadn't yet gotten the will the move out onto the ice with them. She just sat there on the edge, on her thick waterproof coat so she wouldn't get her skirt or wooly leggings wet. Her feet were resting on the ice and she occasionally shifted them around lightly, trying to get used to the slippery sensation. Well, at least it wasn't as bad as the frictionless baseball field she once had the privilege to experience.

Dorothy Ann looked away from her feet and the pond, and back at the food stand. Arnold hated skating just as much as she did and was just as afraid of the ice, but at least he deserved his time off it. Wanda had already dragged him out earlier that day and he bruised both knees as a result - Dorothy Ann really didn't have an excuse. Arnold was now sitting on a picnic bench, warming himself up with a steamy hot chocolate from the foods stand. Tim was some little ways off, sculpting what was no doubt going to turn into some masterpiece of a snowman. She saw Phoebe, who had finally managed to safely get off the ice, stumble up the little hill toward the two boys. Dorothy Ann was tempted to join them with her, but something was stopping her. She turned back to the ice.

She had neglected to mention the last skater on the pond - with good reason off course. Carlos was showing off as usual. Every time she saw him wave and grin at her pompously at her after mastering some tricky manoeuver with his feet, she had to glare at him distastefully and roll her eyes. It was getting annoying. He knew she couldn't skate to save her life, and he didn't have to rub it in her face. He suddenly slipped. Dorothy Ann laughed. Carlos jumped back onto his feet, rubbing a sore elbow. But he just continued to smile and skated over to where DA was sitting. Being the immature jerk he was, he had to hockey stop directly in front of her and spray her with ice chips.

"Thanks Carlos," Dorothy Ann said annoyed, brushing the ice off her sweater.

Carlos just laughed and plopped down on the snow beside her. "Come on DA," he poked her in the side. "Get out on the ice. You already have your skates on."

"No thank you," Dorothy Ann crossed her arms. "I'm fine sitting here. Really. No bruises this way." She had already decided she hated skating almost as much as she hated loosing to Wanda at cards.

"Come on... It'll warm you up," Carlos said, tugging at her scarf. Dorothy Ann pulled it out of his hands and wrapped it back over her shoulder. "When was the last time you skated anyway?"

"You mean other than the time we got stuck inside my physics book?" Dorothy Ann thought for a moment. "When I was seven, and I fell and lost three baby teeth in one go."

Carlos was not going to give up that easily. "This might be your last chance ever to even skate on an outdoor pond like this. It might never freeze over again."

"I'll take that chance," was Dorothy Ann's reply.

"What if I offered to teach you?" Carlos said. "Show you a few of my moves, you know."

Dorothy Ann rolled her eyes. "Yeah. Right. I'd just want to be able to stay up. And you never seemed like the patient type anyway."

"You'll be fine," Carlos persisted. "And if you do fall and break your leg or whatever," he sighed, as if what he was going to say next caused him great pains, "I promise I'll bring you whatever you want and wait on you, hand and foot, until it heals."

Dorothy Ann looked at him skeptically for a moment, but she knew she'd be able to hold him to his promise if worst came to worst. "Fine! For a bit I guess..."

"Yes! Ok then, now the first step is getting up," Carlos said, doing so himself. He looked down at Dorothy Ann and offered a gloved hand.

Dorothy Ann looked at it worriedly for a second.

Carlos dropped it slightly and sighed. "Nothing's going to happen to you. You might actually have a good time for once if you'd stop worrying."

Dorothy Ann grabbed his hand. "Ok, now what."

"Now just pull yourself up."

Easier said than done, Dorothy Ann thought. She didn't much feel like dragging Carlos down on top of her - just a little on the painful side. She figured her pull wouldn't be as strong if she moved her feet directly underneath her and pushed up with them so she did so. She slipped on her first attempt, but Carlos quickly moved his arms around her to the small of her back and Dorothy Ann clutched onto his shoulders tightly.

"Ok!" she squeaked. "That's fine! I had fun! Let's just go get some hot chocolate now okay?!"

"Just relax," Carlos said calmly, still keeping a firm grip on her to keep her steady. Dorothy Ann didn't dare let go of his shoulders; her legs were wobbling uncontrollably beneath her. "You need to learn how to balance properly."

"Well it's very difficult with these narrow little blades! I hate skating!" Dorothy Ann protested, struggling to get a steady grip on the ice. "D - don't you dare let go!"

Carlos, who had just been about to remove his arms from around her waist, stopped and readjusted his grip. He swallowed. Suddenly, without any real explanation, he was feeling more nervous than he could ever remember.

He cleared his throat and tried to ignore how tight his stomach had gotten. "Ok... Um.. Ok, you're doing fine... Just, you - you think you'll be okay on your own yet?"

Dorothy Ann tightened her grip on his shoulders as a response.

xxx

"That's a really nice snowman Tim."

"Thanks Phoebe," Tim replied from the ground. He was currently hunched over the base of his creation, patting down the snow firmly for structure.

"I thought mine looked pretty cool..." Arnold said, looking over sadly to the remains of his own snowman which was now nothing more than a carrot nose sticking out of a pile of snow.

"I liked it too Arnold," Phoebe smiled.

"Wouldn't have liked it half as much as you did if I hadn't helped," Wanda said as she and Ralphie joined them at the picnic table, each carrying their own steaming mug of hot chocolate from the stand.

"I think it looks better after I barrelled into it," Ralphie said thoughtfully before taking a sip of the cocoa. He spat it out almost immediately after. "Ah! Too hot!"

"Ha! Serves you right," Arnold grinned.

They heard Tim suddenly sigh, disappointment very evident in his voice. "Well," he said, flopping down on the seat next to Phoebe, "I guess I'll have to finish it tomorrow if some rotten kid doesn't knock it down before then.." He shot a nasty glance towards Ralphie who looked back innocently. "I hate how it gets dark so early now..." He looked up at the sky.

"Yeah, I know," Wanda agreed, nodding her head. "It's only five p.m. and you can already see a star! Still... it makes tobogganing twice as much fun if you can't see where you're going."

"I should go home when we can no longer see the pond," Phoebe said looking at her watch. "Mom doesn't want me late for dinner again. My grandparents are coming over today."

"Oh, Keesha's giving up too," Wanda said, looking down the hill at the ice rink. "Come on Ralphie, move over and make some space!"

"It's getting really cold," Keesha said when she joined them, shivering and rubbing her gloved hands together in an attempt to warm up. "I'm freezing!"

"Hot chocolate?" Ralphie offered, sliding his mug over towards her. Keesha pushed it back with a look of disgust on her face.

"Ewww.. You probably backwashed in it."

"Never!"

"I'd rather not risk it..." Keesha told him coldly.

"Fine," Ralphie shrugged. "Be my guest and freeze then."

"Speaking of arguing," Wanda said loudly. "Are Carlos and DA _still_ out there skating?"

"I thought Dorothy Ann hated it and couldn't skate to save her life," Arnold said, lifting his head out of his arms where he had been resting it.

"She can't," said Keesha.

"Carlos is attempting to teach her," Wanda explained.

"Carlos?!" Tim said astonished. "Has the patience to teach her!? They drive each other insane! I'd be surprised if they were tearing insults at each other right now!"

All six of them turned their heads toward the rink.

They could all make out the two small figures of Carlos and Dorothy Ann, even in the dim light they were given. The two weren't shouting at each other in frustration as Tim had predicted. Dorothy Ann was skating. Rather shakily it was true, but not as bad as she had been before. She was staying up at least, and they could see her gliding towards Carlos with her arms sticking out like wings on either side to keep herself balanced. Carlos was skating backwards a tiny ways ahead of her, arms held out as well in case she fell.

Phoebe winced as she watched Dorothy Ann stumble, shriek, grab onto the front of Carlos's jacket, and fall over backwards with him tumbling after her. She suddenly giggled. "Awww... They're so cute.." she said as they heard Dorothy Ann laugh with Carlos below.

"How come they're not getting back up?" Tim asked. "They're just sliding on the ice on their pants!"

"Yeah, are they crazy? They're going to get soaked," Keesha said frowning.

"He's not getting off her..." Wanda said slyly, smirking at the pair of them.

"Wait," Arnold said, clearly confused. "Are you suggesting there's something going on between Carlos and DA? Carlos and DA?! Are you feeling all right Wanda?"

"Yeah," Ralphie agreed with Arnold. "They're always at each other's throats. Arguing over the stupidest - " His eyes suddenly widened. "Oh!"

"Sexual tension..." Wanda said in a sing song voice.

Ralphie smacked himself in the forehead with his mitten. "How could we have been so stupid! _Guys, where's DA today, have you seen her? Is she sick? Guys, what kind of birthday present do you think can top a star? Guys, have you noticed how much time DA has been spending with that snot George Mackay lately?_!" Ralphie shook his head. "How'd we miss that!"

Phoebe's eyes widened too and she looked wildly back and forth between Wanda and Keesha, looking very excited. "_Guys, have you noticed how tall Carlos is getting. Now I have to crane my neck up just to talk to him!_"

"_Guys, Carlos was being the biggest idiot today! I can't believe he'd spent the entire math class talking to that brain dead Nancy Bruce!_" Wanda offered.

"_Guys, don't you just hate that haircut Carlos got? He looked so much better with the longer hair. At least it shouldn't take long to grow back..._" Keesha continued.

"Aww..." Phoebe giggled again. "I think it's cute."

"I think it's disgusting," Ralphie said, sticking out his tongue to express his revulsion.

"It's getting harder to see them," Wanda said, squinting. "We should probably leave soon... I'll call my mom. Anyone need a ride?"

xxx

"We going to get up anytime soon?" Carlos asked DA as the two slid slowly down on the ice.

"Nah..." DA said. "It's getting late and I'm getting kind of tired..."

"Oh," Carlos said. He would have willingly stayed up all night with her here, until his fingers froze off, but he tried to hide his disappointment. "But you had fun right?"

She nodded. "Yes, I did. Thanks."

There was a pause. Carlos bit his lip, casting his mind around wildly for something to say.

"You've really gotten better though," he said finally. "Thanks to my superb teaching methods..."

He saw DA roll her eyes, but she was smiling. "Oh please. I think I only managed to spend five minutes alone on the ice without any support."

Carlos smirked. "Yeah, but I think that's just because you really enjoyed holding on to me."

Dorothy Ann narrowed her eyes. "Ha! Let's just say, between that and a broken leg - "

"Hey DA!" Carlos and DA flinched at the shout. "Giving you a ride home! Be up here in five minutes!"

Leave it up to Wanda to spoil something like this, thought Carlos darkly.

"Ok! Be right up Wanda!" DA called back. She turned back to Carlos with an apologetic look on her face. "Well I got to go..."

Carlos nodded. "Yeah, alright. I should be heading up too."

But she didn't move. So he didn't either.

"Um... er - can you skate over to the edge alright from here?" he asked.

"Um... you could just give me a push in that direction," DA said. Carlos raised his eyebrows.

"Nah..," he decided. "Come on, it's not like you learned nothing. I'm going to make you skate." He jumped to his feet and held out his hand for her, smiling.

DA looked at his hand for a moment, but decided against any more of his help. He watched her struggle upright, but was quite pleased when she managed it rather fast.

"Say it," he grinned, skating circles around her while she trembled in her skates and slowly made her way to the edge of the pond. "I'm a great teacher."

"I don't know..." DA said smiling. "I've had some pretty good ones in the past..."

"Right..." Carlos grinned sheepishly.

"Made it!" DA said triumphantly when she reached the edge, and she promptly flopped down onto the snow. She patted the ground next to her for Carlos, before turning her attention to her laces. Carlos joined her on the snow, untied his own, and watched her struggle with hers for a bit.

"Need help?" he offered.

"I can do it myself!" she told him. She fought with them for a few more seconds, then - "Ug! Ok fine! If you really want to..."

Carlos smirked and, having already removed his own skates, slid back onto the ice with his sneakers until he was directly in front of her. He began to untangle the laces.

"Geeze! What did you tie them up so tight for?"

"It's easier to glide when your feet aren't slipping around inside the skates," DA said, crossing her arms.

"What would you do if I wasn't here, eh?" Carlos asked tauntingly. "Walk home in these?"

Dorothy Ann narrowed her eyes at him. "No, I'm sure Tim, Ralphie, Phoebe or anyone else would have been willing."

"Yeah, but only I could get them off," Carlos said loftily, pulling off her left skate. DA reached for her sneaker.

"Oh, you think you're so great at everything.." DA sighed sympathetically. "If only half the things you boast about yourself were true..."

"Hey! I _do_ know that I'm getting straight A's when you, Miss Parker, are getting - "

"P.E. doesn't count," said DA through gritted teeth.

Carlos smirked and tugged off her other skate.

"Thanks Carlos," said DA, reaching for her other sneaker and pulling it on.

"No problem," he said, sitting back down next to her. He watched her quietly while she tied on her shoes. He sometimes felt he had the worst of luck. And the best. And it always happened at the same time. Like now for instance. The sun had fully set and the sky couldn't have looked more stunning. There were quite a few stars already twinkling brightly and the moonlight was unfortunately shining down on DA as if she were some sort of goddess. _Damn_ the lighting. The dim glow from the moon made him feel as if he could get away with anything in this darkness. He suddenly felt extremely reckless. For some reason he couldn't stop looking at Dorothy Ann. Her blond hair poking out of her toque and curling on her round face, her loose scarf dragging on the ice as she tied up her shoelaces...

_Stupid_ lighting. It was going to make him do something stupid. He just knew it.

And the funny thing was, whenever he was almost absolutely sure that he was about to do something incredibly stupid, he never managed to stop himself. He had the knowledge the idea was stupid, knew it would get him into trouble, but did it anyway. It was weird.

And then DA would yell at him for being an idiot.

But that would never stop him from doing something stupid the next time an idiotic thought entered his mind. Like now. He knew he was being insane; he knew there'd be dire consequences; he knew he was probably going to spend the next few days hiding from her; he was only partially aware of the fact his face was inching slowly toward hers...

And then it happened. Before he had a clear idea of exactly what on earth he was doing; before any sense of rationality could talk some reason into him; before he could stop himself, he kissed her.

It was far too quick a kiss. Light, just a brief one right on the lips and for a second, Carlos was very glad he had lost his mind in the moment.

And then they both jumped back as if they'd received some sort of electric shock.

Even in the dim lighting, he could see her eyes had gone as wide as saucers and he saw her mouth drop open. He had no idea what he was supposed to do next and, thankfully, didn't have to come up with an explanation for what he had just done.

"DA! My mom's here! Get up here and get your butt in the car!"

"Coming!" DA gasped and leapt up to her feet. "Bye!" she said quickly to Carlos, not looking him in the face. And with that, she grabbed her skates by the laces and bolted up the hill towards her car pool as fast as she could, leaving Carlos, who was sitting there in the snow, wordlessly thanking Wanda for her ability to break awkward silences, in her wake.

_Damn_ his impulsiveness, Carlos thought sourly, burying his face in his hands. What had he been thinking?! He hadn't. He let his guard down. He groaned and ignored Ralphie's shouts from the top of the hill.

xxx

"Are - are you alright DA?" Keesha asked, looking at her friend with concern as Dorothy Ann stumbled breathlessly into the backseat of Ms. Li's car.

DA nodded quickly. "Yes! Fine!"

Keesha, Phoebe, and Wanda all exchanged confused glances.

"You sure?" Phoebe asked worriedly.

"Fine!" DA said, trying her best to sound as though she really was. And when her friends continued to stare at her curiously, repeated firmly, "Fine."

The other girls shrugged and looked away from her, figuring that DA, never one to be able to hold something that was bothering her inside for too long, would tell them soon enough. Probably as early as tomorrow.

Relieved that her friends had stopped staring at her curiously, DA turned her head away from them so that she was facing the window. Her nose pressed against the glass, she took a deep breath and then let it out, fogging up the window.

She felt the car start to move and heard her friends strike up a conversation. It sounded like they were talking about what they were hoping to get for Christmas this year, but DA was only partially listening. There was a strange buzzing sound in her head that was making it difficult to think; however, she was still able to ask herself what on earth had just happened down at the pond. Had Carlos _kissed_ her?! Had he really, or was it just another one of her random daydreams, just a little more vivid than usual?

Dorothy Ann ripped off her glove and gently brought her fingers to her lips; they still felt very tingly. And the memory of what had just happened a minute ago exploded back into her mind without warning.

She suddenly grinned. She really couldn't have helped it if she'd tried. The smile had been bursting to get out of her and as long as none of her friends turned her way...

She pulled her toque further down over her face just in case they did and, if possible, grinned even harder. What was going to happen tomorrow she didn't know, and, at the moment, didn't really want to know. There was only one thing she knew for sure right now, and one thing she really cared to know: that, at this very moment in time, she loved skating more than anything else in the world.

* * *

**Passage from** **Beneath the Wheel on which this oneshot is based:**

"**I have a sweetheart."**

"**You? Really?"**

"**At home. The neighbour's girl. And this winter I gave her a kiss."**

"**You did?"**

"**Yes. . . . You know it was already dark. In the evening on the ice she let me help her take off her ice-skates. That's when I kissed her."**

"**Didn't she say anything?"**

"**Say anything? No. She just ran away."**

"**And then?**

"**And then - nothing."**

**xxx**

**It made me think of a scenario between DA and Carlos that might have happened when they were young and stupid about each other. :)**

**I like reviews:)**


End file.
